Instead there has been a string of smaller "spontaneous protests" led by labour activists, students or families affected by vaccine or food scandals in recent years, he said. All language versions of Wikipedia -- whose pages include details about the Tiananmen crackdown -- were blocked from the Chinese internet weeks before the anniversary. "Freedom of speech is the starting point of all freedoms," said Hu Jia, a prominent Chinese dissident, "without it another Tiananmen is unthinkable." China had about 176 million video surveillance cameras monitoring its streets, buildings and public spaces in 2016, compared to 50 million in the United States, according to data provider IHS Markit. Dozens have been detained or disappeared after their support for a labour movement last year.

Source: Bangkok Post May 30, 2019 05:03 UTC